Taxi Kidnappers

History of Ransoms.
France has an unfortunate history of special-interest groups holding the country to ransom by blockading roads, ports, airports and other key points. The sequence is the same each time:
(1) a proposed change in the laws is announced to improve the economy of the country, improve the lot of the people or some other well-intentioned improvement.
(2) a special-interest group blockades key infrastructure points. This has worked well in the past for groups with the easy means to blockades, such as truck drivers and ... taxi drivers.
(3) the proposed changes are withdrawn - and France remains in the past.

The Commission.
In August 2007 a commission was set up, lead by M. Jacques Attali, to propose a set of changes to make France more economically efficient and competitive in the world market. At that time, the President of the Republic said about the Attali commission: "What you propose, we will do...".

The Proposal.
The Attali Report came out in January 2008. One of the 300 changes proposed was to liberalize taxi businesses. Instead of a town having a very restricted number of licensed taxis for a very limited and controlled selection of drivers, the business would be open to competition. This idea of course inflamed the taxi drivers –– competition might be ok for the consumer, but not for the entrenched drivers. There are some valid problems that would need to be solved, such as the very expensive permit (medallian) that the current taxi drivers have invested in, but the bottom line is competition and the people most affected are the consumers.

The Ransom.
Last week taxis in several towns blockaded roads and airports, including the Nice airport. Sure, people struggled to and from terminals by walking and dragging their luggage, with great anxiety. Sure, people missed their flights. But competition was at stake.
This week the Nice taxis blockaded the autoroutes around the town. Not a complete blocade but a "slow down". Roads that are overly congested at the best of times became unbearable for the rest of the drivers (including anyone trying to get to the airport to catch a flight).

The Solution.
The French government today has apparently given in -- once again. "What you propose, we will do...", but not for the taxis, and not for that other special-interest group, and not for this special-interest group. For the rest of us? Well, maybe the next presidental election will give us a new set of promised changes to hope for.